Comments on: A flurry of activity

By: sandy

sandy — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:56:45 +0000

Hey the uno version fits on ok. I haven’t tested it properly though, functionally, but it’s a start.

By: Kyle Lammie

Kyle Lammie — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:49:12 +0000

Alright, thanks for the reply. I was hoping this update was the reason I can’t get vectors to draw while pen moves work. I’ll just poke around some more. Thanks!

By: sandy

sandy — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:49:25 +0000

Aha, sorry yes, I was a bit offhand there Kyle. This particular update doesn’t fit on the arduino uno, but old versions will still work fine – the control language is the same, new controller functions (pen lift height) will simply not work. And I hope to get it to fit on eventually too, I’m not sure what the issue is – where the big expansion has suddenly crept in, and just haven’t had a chance to look more closely at it.

Actually I don’t even have an uno, but I assumed if it didn’t fit on a duemilanove then it wouldn’t fit on an uno either.

In the worst case, the uno version becomes slightly less functional (only one pixel style), or splits into a pixel version and a vector version. But vector drawing is a core part of the functionality, so there will always be a version that does that.

OTOH, megas rock 🙂

By: Kyle Lammie

Kyle Lammie — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 04:28:05 +0000

Hey Sandy,

I’m sorry if i need you to spell this out, but does this mean Uno users will not have vector drawing anymore? Not even from a separate file? I have resisted getting a mega as much as I could but this looks like the nail in the coffin.

By: Andreas

Andreas — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:25:06 +0000

Well, I had to flip the servo back again after the machine upload, used the same config all the time. So I guess it’s not the defaults.

By: sandy

sandy — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 20:25:09 +0000

Hurray! Aren’t they great? The polarity of the lift is something I need to fix – I think I put the defaults the wrong way around.

By: Andreas

Andreas — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 19:53:19 +0000

Disregard! Mi stupido. In my childish eager to try out the new features I totally missed the part about having to re-upload the machine specs. It’s working perfectly now. And wow, how cool those circles are! I like the sound of the motors accelerating and decelerating as well. Niiice

By: Andreas

Andreas — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 19:36:45 +0000

Oh. Well, darn it. I only have a built in webcam on my laptop. Guess I’ll just flip the whole thing on the side then..Or just plank sideways in front of the laptop:)

Also, just tried to update the firmware (hex via xloader) and all hell broke loose. First of all the polarity of the pen lift was suddenly opposite, so as I powered up the arm popped the other way and forced the gondola apart. Ok, so I flip the servo around, all good. Now when I try to draw (circles) from SD it moves into place,pen drop and then seems stuck with the motors making a horrible increasing grinding sound. I quickly disconnected. Phew. I’ll try some more here, but probably get back to you on the forum.

By: sandy

sandy — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:08:17 +0000

Oh yes! Ha ha, you can fix it by turning your web cam through 90 degrees! Sound silly perhaps, but I wanted a portrait shapes image, so that’s what I did. I guess I should make it configurable eh. Well, next version!

By: Andreas

Andreas — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:10:06 +0000

Haha! This is awesome, great work Sandy!

However, I’ve encountered a problem, the webcam preview is displayed sideways e.g 90 degrees clockwise rotation. Am I doing something wrong here, or maybe some webcam settings? I’m on win7 64 by the way.